A Memory Called Empire – Arkady Martine

Remarkable book. I see that this book is designated “Teixcalaan #1”, but it doesn’t need a sequel.

Teixcalaan is a bit like historical China, a bit like historical Rome, and a lot like itself. It has an emperor who rules with what is basically the mandate of heaven: If the emperor is overthrown, that’s evidence that the mandate shifted - and the mandate has shifted a lot over time. It is the military 600-pound gorilla in its part of the galaxy. It is also the cultural 600-pound gorilla: Its neighbors emulate it while it has no corresponding interest in barbarian culture, ‘barbarian’ being defined as everyone else.

Mahit Dzmare is the new ambassador Lsel, a small space-station-based polity that has maintained a precarious independence. It’s like being the ambassador of a small barbarian tribe near the Chinese border, tasked with keeping China from absent-mindedly conquering you. Most of the people you might talk to have never heard of your tribe. Teixcalaan is similarly inward-looking.

Mahit arrives just as Teixcalaan is going up in political flames. A strong emperor keeps the factions (bureaucratic, military, economic, regional, social) in check. In the absence of a strong emperor, it doesn’t take much to make them explode. We see the explosion from Mahit’s viewpoint. Martine does excellent work in balancing Mahit’s story with the much-larger story that is playing out mostly in the background. Also excellent is the way Teixcalaan’s complex culture is shown to us through the viewpoint of a knowledgeable outsider who will alway be an outsider.

Arkady Martine built something ambitious here, and made it work as a novel.